Workgroup Survey Results


Results of the LMS Survey
The workgroup developed a survey to obtain a baseline understanding of all the AJCU schools learning management systems (LMS) environments. Multiple questions were developed to capture the current versions of systems, use of additional features and functions of systems, and schools plans for upgrade\migration. The survey was sent to all AJCU schools in mid December, with a request to complete the survey by the second week of January 2010. All survey results were compiled and summarized in a document on the team Wiki. Look for the LMS Survey Results - Jan 2010 link from the menu tab to see the survey details.

Findings
Seventeen (17) of the AJCU schools (61%) participated in the survey. Blackboard is the primary LMS for the participating schools with 59% of the schools already using Blackboard and five schools currently using Angel as their primary LMS. With the merger of Angel and Blackboard considered, 88% of the survey participants are currently using a Blackboard solution as the LMS. Of the survey participants, the only two non-Blackboard\Angel schools are Marquette University who is running Desire2Learn and the College of Holy Cross who has implemented Moodle as its primary LMS. Three of the schools have implemented a secondary LMS, which is open source (i.e. Sakai or Moodle). Of those schools currently on Blackboard, 10% are running version 7 of the software, 60% are at version 8, and 30% are at version 9. All Angel schools are running version 7 of that system.

When it comes to hosting, most schools are hosting their own production LMS (71%) and those schools contracting with a third party for hosting are working directly with either Blackboard ASP or Angel for hosting services. Nine of the schools (53%) are currently evaluating other systems. One third of those schools are looking at Moodle as a possible alternative to Blackboard.

All schools are using multiple features and functions in their LMS. The most commonly used tool is the Discussion Board features and functions (16), followed closely by the Grade Center (14), Digital Drop Box (13), and Content System (12) features. Fifty-three (53%) percent of the schools are actively using a campus portal, 60% of the schools are actively using Blogs and Wikis, and 41% of the schools are actively using lecture capture and iTunes-U.

All schools have integrated to some level, their LMS with their Student Information System (SIS). Seven of the schools have “fully” integrated their LMS and SIS systems and 10 of the schools have “partially” integrated the systems. Sungard-Banner systems are the most commonly used SIS by the survey participants and make up 65% of the respondents.

Questions and details of the survey can be found here.